Hillcrest Venture Partners

Branded Online, Inc. is an e-commerce technology company based in Costa Mesa, California, that offers comprehensive solutions to enhance online retail experiences. Founded in 2010, the company specializes in a range of services including technology development, e-commerce operations, creative services, and digital marketing. Branded Online provides tools for fulfillment, customer service, and merchant support, alongside design and content creation services such as graphic design, photography, and copywriting. Additionally, the company focuses on online strategy, site merchandising, and digital marketing techniques, including paid search and social media marketing. By leveraging its robust technology and operational expertise, Branded Online aims to empower brands to achieve scalable growth and improved customer engagement in an increasingly competitive e-commerce landscape.

VirtuLocity Networks Inc. is a Silicon Valley start-up dedicated to enhancing internet and cloud connectivity. The company develops a cloud-based acceleration platform that optimizes network performance through its VLN cloud and VLN software. This platform has been rigorously tested by various providers, including Content Delivery Network operators, carrier networks, cable MSOs, and mobile providers, demonstrating its ability to boost throughput over different types of connections, including wired, wireless, and hybrid systems. By improving end-user network connections, VirtuLocity aims to deliver faster and more efficient internet services.

MomentFeed, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in mobile customer experience management software for various industries including automotive, banking, restaurants, retail, telecommunications, and travel. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, MomentFeed offers a unified platform that enables multi-location brands to optimize their visibility in proximity search. The platform includes features such as a Mobile Customer Experience management system, Social Media Manager, Paid Media Manager, Reputation Manager, and Visibility Manager, all designed to enhance local engagement and digital reputation. Additionally, the company provides services such as location data publishing, digital presence management, and location data alignment. By leveraging these tools, MomentFeed helps brands connect with customers at the local level, ultimately driving foot traffic and increasing revenue.

NS8 Inc. is a fraud prevention and user experience protection company that offers a comprehensive platform designed to help online businesses minimize risk. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, with additional offices in Miami Beach and Amsterdam, NS8 utilizes machine learning, behavioral analytics, and real-time scoring to provide actionable insights into transaction quality and trustworthiness. Its platform enables users to monitor and analyze potential fraud, detect bot activity, and segment hidden sessions, thereby enhancing understanding of effective traffic sources. The technology allows businesses to automate their fraud management workflows, tailoring them to specific needs, while also providing consumer metrics for personalized content and sales techniques. In October 2020, NS8 filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Phizzle, Inc. is a software company specializing in engagement automation and data aggregation. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in New York and Broomfield, the company provides a fan engagement platform that consolidates and analyzes multiple data sources. Its flagship product, phz.io, allows users to create custom engagement applications utilizing enterprise-level data warehousing and visualization tools. Phizzle's technology serves a diverse clientele, including professionals, brands, colleges, and media organizations, focusing on consumer management, gamification, insights, and omnichannel communication. Additionally, Phizzle offers IoT solutions that automate and operate multi-vendor particle counters, enhancing scientific data applications in the pharmaceutical and food manufacturing sectors, while also streamlining compliance processes to minimize human error and improve efficiency in regulated environments.

Notion is a company that specializes in home monitoring systems, providing property owners with tools to safeguard their spaces and belongings. Founded in 2013 by Brett Jurgens and Ryan Margoles and based in Denver, Colorado, Notion offers a multi-function, compact sensor that delivers real-time alerts for various issues, including motion detection, temperature changes, water leaks, and alarms. The system is designed to enhance home awareness through an intuitive user experience and comprehensive data analytics, allowing customers to proactively address potential problems in their homes.

Phoenix Energy Technologies, Inc. specializes in developing software that focuses on enterprise energy management for smart buildings and connected machines. The company provides solutions that monitor, control, and manage assets such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting, refrigeration, and other industrial and consumer-facing equipment. Its software offers features that alert users, measure performance, and automatically correct or predict maintenance needs, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and reducing energy costs. Serving a diverse range of clients including retailers, universities, grocery stores, and theaters, Phoenix Energy Technologies aims to help organizations achieve their energy savings goals with minimal additional hardware. Founded in 2004 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the company was previously known as Phoenix ESG, LLC and became a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation in 2015.

QuickFire Networks is a company focused on addressing the challenges posed by the rapid growth in consumer demand for compute-intensive services in the cloud. It offers a traffic processing platform designed to enhance network performance and efficiency. The company's suite of applications includes Video Processing, Packet Capture and Distribution, Analytic Processing, and Packet Storage. By moving beyond traditional data center appliances, which rely on incremental improvements, QuickFire Networks seeks to provide solutions that can effectively handle the significant increases in data traffic and processing requirements faced by modern cloud environments.

Departing is an innovative provider in the death care industry, focused on transforming the traditional methods of planning and financing funerals. The company operates both physical locations and an online platform, allowing consumers to seamlessly plan, save for, and pay for death care services. By offering comprehensive information about funeral homes and associated costs, Departing empowers individuals to make informed decisions regarding their own arrangements or those of loved ones. Through its dual-channel approach, the company seeks to disrupt the conventional practices in the death care sector, making the process more accessible and user-friendly.

Titan Photonics, Inc. is a research and development firm specializing in optical systems and technologies, particularly in optical transport components and network subsystems. Founded in 2001 and based in Fremont, California, the company designs and manufactures a range of products, including optical communication and telecommunication equipment that supports various network requirements such as HFC, FTTH, and RFoG. It offers intelligent optical transceivers, optical assemblies, and common components like WDM multiplexers and splitters. Titan Photonics also provides engineering and manufacturing services aimed at communications service providers, networking companies, field installers, and governmental entities. The company was previously known as Optical Scale Integration (OSI), Inc. before rebranding in 2005. Through its innovative solutions, Titan Photonics aims to simplify inventory management and installation processes for its customers.

GenieDB, Inc. is a technology company founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, California. It specializes in cloud computing solutions, particularly through its innovative cloud MySQL Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS). GenieDB enables users to deploy MySQL databases quickly, securely, and cost-effectively, facilitating the rapid launch of web applications in the cloud. The company’s DBaaS employs multi-master replication and multi-regional distribution across various cloud infrastructures, including Amazon AWS, HP Cloud, Rackspace Cloud, and Google Cloud. This architecture addresses the growing demand for continuous availability and low latency by allowing data to be distributed globally, thus simplifying the migration process for small and medium-sized businesses into cloud-based infrastructures. GenieDB's patent-pending technology optimizes data consistency, replication, and synchronization, ensuring high performance and reliability for applications operating on a global scale.

Codexa is a company that focuses on providing personalized solutions to enhance the efficiency of meeting transcription and the distribution of meeting minutes. In addition to its transcription services, Codexa is developing a suite of decision-support tools aimed at assisting professional investors in managing the overwhelming amount of financial information available online. By offering these tailored solutions, Codexa seeks to streamline communication and support informed decision-making in both corporate and investment contexts.